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Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz!
Written by Hannah Barrett.
The New York band’s latest offering shows them taking a new direction into the already over populated genre of electronica and dance. This caused fears that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs would lose their raw, euphoric sound and become altogether blander. Indeed, It’s Blitz! does not have the instant attraction of their previous releases. Nevertheless it should not be written off. Karen O’s distinctive vocals remain captivating and the new instrumentation allows their emotive nature to be showcased on the slower numbers. The band continues to offer a good ratio of songs that make you dance versus songs that break your heart.
Opening single 'Zero' is a highlight of the album, with its compelling beat and Karen O’s chanting vocals. Some may prefer the new polished sound and the evident work that has gone into making the band play tighter than ever. Yet something still made me yearn for loud, dirty guitars and the feverish shouts apparent on earlier work. The album represents the band treading new territory and for the most part it is a successful venture, with no "bad" songs on the album. If only there were a few more exciting ones.
YYYs: Official | MySpace | on Spotify
Super Furry Animals: Dark Days/Light Years
Written by Pete Burgess.
As one of the most innovative bands of the last 15 years, Super Furry Animals have combined sunny pop with glitch techno, dance with heavy guitars. This, their ninth studio album often proves as inventive as past efforts.
Lead single and album highlight ‘Inaugural Trams’ is original, catchy and downright weird, Gruff Rhys’ clean vocals sandwiching a refreshingly odd German-language rap by Franz Ferdinand’s Nick McCarthy in the guise of a tram conductor. ‘The Very Best of Neil Diamond’ is triumphant too: a song as eccentric as its title, autotuned vocals build to a catchy chorus. Shorter tracks ‘Where Do You Wanna Go?’ and ‘Lliwiau Llachar’ are classic Super Furry Animals, and the lengthy closer ‘Pric’ is extremely enjoyable. Elsewhere, album opener ‘Crazy Naked Girls’ begins freshly, but degenerates into four minutes of self indulgent and anticlimactic guitar soloing. The album was recorded quickly, which might account for why neither this nor the overlong later track ‘Cardiff in the Sun’ have their inspired bases converted into the kind of great songs the band has created before.
Super Furry Animals are light years ahead of the average new indie band, but, placed alongside their own back catalogue, Dark Days doesn’t quite capture the eccentric perfection of past triumphs like Rings Around The World.
Super Furry Animals: Official | MySpace | on Spotify
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